Israeli Deni Avdija takes fast break from NBA preseason
Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija sat out his first preseason game with his new team on Yom Kippur, saying that his priorities had shifted after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on his native Israel.
“Tomorrow, on the eve of Yom Kippur, the first pre-season game of the season will take place,” Avdija posted on Instagram the Thursday before the fast. “When the management informed me, I knew right away that I would not participate. I feel that the best way to start the season is by honoring Jewish tradition and standing united with my fellow Jews in Israel and around the world.
“Basketball has been a central part of my life for as long as I can remember, and it’s always been my top priority. However, after the past year, I’ve realized there are more important things than basketball. Am Yisrael Chai. Wishing everyone a good inscription and sealing.”
Avdija, 23, is the only Israeli player in the NBA. The Washington Wizards traded him to the Trail Blazers over the summer, shortly after inking a $55 million, four-season contract with him. Born to a Jewish Israeli mother and Muslim father who immigrated to Israel from Yugoslavia to play basketball, Avdija grew up on Kibbutz Beit Zera, a Jordan Valley village that both housed evacuees from the Gaza border since Oct. 7 and has faced a security crisis of its own.
Whether Jewish athletes and other celebrities take Yom Kippur off has long been of intense interest for American Jews, as typified by nearly 60 years of veneration of Sandy Koufax, the Los Angeles Dodger who sat out game one of the 1965 World Series.
Unlike with Koufax, Avdija’s game was of little consequence: It was a preseason game with no effect on his team’s standing. Still, his presence could have altered the final score, as the Trail Blazers dropped the game against the L.A. Clippers by two points. (Portland bested the Sacramento Kings by 20 points on Sunday; Avdija, who played for 20 minutes, notched five of them.)
And his decision — unlikely to be repeated, because the basketball preseason rarely overlaps with the High Holidays — also inspired Jewish sports fans.
“It’s preseason, but the gesture is important, especially when Jewish people are being attacked around the world,” tweeted Acorn Sports, an account operated by a Jewish sports buff. “Respect.”
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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